// August 17th - Las Vegas // Distance today: 101 km // Total: 2672 km // 

The place I remembered being on the way to Death Valley was indeed that strange city in the middle of the desert... I arrived late the evening before, so even though I've been here before, my heart skipped a beat when suddenly a sea made out of a million lights routed the night.
Sitting in my dodgy hotel room, I really didn't feel like spending a lot of time here.
Also - who's going to Vegas just to get a few hours of sleep? I took a shower, and off I went into the night.

I thought Vegas was supposed to be another city that never sleeps. But around Fremont Street, it was even hard to find a place to eat that was still open around that time.
So, this morning nobody woke up on the rooftop, nobody stole a tiger and I also don't have a new tattoo now.
Still, I met cool people that convinced me to actually spend a lazy day in the city.
Jumping from A to B to C everyday got me tired, so I stayed for this Day Twenty One. Just hanging out by the pool of the Monte Carlo, and sometimes joining a human chain made out of floating tires and happy drunk people on the lazy river. And laughing about the elderly people next to us, who were totally aware that they were elderly, so they had to act like they were 21 and now legally allowed to drink alcohol and consume other unhealthy chemical products...
That night we went down to The Strip for dinner, drinks and getting lost in the flickering lights of the casinos, cars and advertisements, and somewhat well-rested I planned to leave in the early morning the next day.

// August 16th - Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park & Zion National Park // Distance today: 492 km // Total: 2571 km // 

It's becoming a routine to get up and leave while it's still dark outside. I passed the Red Canyon again, dipped in the beautiful light of the rising sun. I'll never get used to seeing colors like these. 

// August 15th - Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend & Leaving Arizona // Distance today: 549 km // Total: 2079 km //





Thunder rolling. Lightning, first in the distance, but I was getting closer and closer. 

The thunderstorm was right over the hill the GPS was guiding me to. Good start. 
An abandoned, soggy campground. Three dogs barking aggressively. No host. 
Just two other men, campers, watching as I pass by...
But that's the end of the day, so I'll come back to this later. 

August 15th actually started pretty well. I left the campground at Grand Canyon early in the morning, hoping I'd still get a spot for a tour to Antelope Canyon. All tours started from Page, still Arizona. This town didn't have anything else to offer but the tours to the Canyon and churches. ALL the churches you can imagine. For the smallest religions. The whole street, and it seemed like it was never ending. I think the only church missing was the Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster (google it, if you don't know it), but I'm sure theirs was just hidden in one of the side streets. Alright, seen Page.

Antelope Canyon

I was lucky and got one of the last two spots due to a cancellation, so I hopped on the jeep just a few minutes later, to the Upper Antelope Canyon. 
Antelope Canyon is closed to public, you are obligated to book a tour. Gun shots and graffiti at the very end of the canyon made this decision totally comprehensible. Still, even though it was so early, and I had one of the first tours - I felt like we were cattle being pushed through the tight canyon walls. "There is another group coming, we have to move on!" - "Keep on moving folks!" - "Stand at this exact spot, take a picture and move on!". That was basically it. It's a beautiful place. But crowded as a park with a rare Pokémon in it. 
After what felt like an hour we tried to push ourselves back through the Canyon, back on the jeep, back to the town full of churches, back in the car, onward it goes, continuing the trip. 
Next stop:

Horseshoe Bend

Such an INCREDIBLE place. The Colorado River forms a perfect "U" around a giant red rock, and only when you see a bird flying by or the rafting boats in the river, while sitting at the edge of the rock, you can somehow imagine the dimensions. It's enormous. I spent quite a while just sitting there, letting the feeling of joy, that I get to see places like this, flow through me. 
Unfortunately at some point it started to rain and a smaller sandstorm made it really uncomfortable to stay. The wind blowing the sand hard in people's faces, most of them fled within minutes. So did I. 

Red Canyon 

On the way to my campground I passed the Red Canyon on the Dixie National Forest in Utah. It gave me a first impression of what was waiting for me the next day in Bryce Canyon National Park. It felt a little bit like home - Disney World. How many times did we ride the Big Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster through canyons like this? Just that this was the actual thing. Not Frontierland in Magic Kingdom. 
I stopped and walked around for a bit, but also wanted to reach my campground before nightfall. Well. I managed to do so, but... 

American Horror Story

So, coming back to the introduction. 
I already had a bad feeling when I saw the thunderstorm coming closer. I knew my campground was back there, right in the center, right where I saw all the lightning flashing every few seconds. Great. But also - the reservation was already made.
Almost missing the turn, I drove up a graveled path for multiple miles. The thunderstorm keeping me company. the path ended in said campground. Barely any signs. I ended up at a fork. Well, where to go? 
I decided to go to the left. Wrong decision, nothing here. No people, no restrooms, but two group campgrounds, apparently reserved in about a week from now. 
I went back, this time taking the right turn - the RV of the host! Yes. People. I needed to find out the number of my campsite, since nothing was assigned before. 
When I knocked at the door, no human answered, but at least three dogs, scratching the doors, jumping up the window, barking aggressively. Okay, no one here... 
Continuing, I drove slowly through the puddles that quickly grew bigger. Found a restroom. No water. Okay, I'm kind of used to that from walking trails, but I thought the description of the campground said something else. Well. 
I was surprised that I didn't see another soul, when I actually passed one occupied campsite. One tent, two men under an umbrella, they stopped talking, watching me. 
What kind of horror movie is this? I finally found a campsite with my name on the stake, got out of the car, looked around this soggy, deserted place, with the thunderstorm still going on, and decided that I actually didn't plan on either getting struck by lightning, drown in the river right next to my tent, or being murdered by two creepy men tonight, and turned around. 

I'm not sure if I was being silly and overcautious, but I just had a really bad feeling in my gut. I guess I would not have slept a bit if I had stayed there. 

Learnt my lesson. Don't book too much in advance! You'll always find a spot somewhere, and sometimes it's just better to be able to check it out before. 

Well. Better luck next time! 

// August 13th - Monument Valley, Arizona & Utah // Distance today: 676 km // Total: 1104 km //

After what only felt like a few days at work Michelle, Katharina, Roger and I started early in the morning for our next adventure.
Approaching Salt Lake City, we were already speechless when we were flying over the snow cowered tops of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges and the wide Salt Flats.
But our destination was another road trip of seven hours north from us - the Yellowstone National Park.
Hours of driving can be annoying, but it's better if you hit the road with some great friends. So after starting off with our very first In-N-Out-burger, that's apparently very famous, we left Utah, passed through Idaho, arrived in Wyoming, and when we entered through the West Entrance, we were already rewarded by the amazing view of a frozen lake and mountains covered in snow. For Roger, who has never touched snow before, one of many firsts during this trip.
But also for Michelle, Katharina and me it has been a long time since we were able to throw a snowball, we've been living in Florida after all.

We passed some more spots, mud volcanos and sulphur cauldrons like the smelly "Dragon's mouth", the impressive Yellowstone Lake, before we finally checked into our cabin in the woods. After a mediocre dinner and spotty internet connection that we stopped caring for at some point, we ended our first day. The next day we actually started exploring.

I'll update some information later - so the title will make sense, too. But for now, since I started planning a pretty big trip, just let the pictures speak for themselves. Even though photos can never do this beautiful place any justice.































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Etwas über wilde Waschbären, miese Moskitos und roasted potatoes lost in the woods.
Über unseren ersten Roasted Potatoes trip hat Katharina schon berichtet, und ich denke, besser kann ich es nicht in Worte fassen ;) Daher lest ihr alles über unseren wilden Kanutrip am besten in ihrem Blog!
Und zu Roasted Potatoes Lost in the Woods Parts 2 komme ich nun.
Mein Wochenende ist vorbei. Dass mein Wochenende aus Montag und Dienstag besteht, ist eigentlich ganz schön, auch wenn sich ein Tausch für einen back-to-back - also 4 Tage am Stück frei, weil die Wochen dann aneinander angrenzen - mittlerweile als ziemlich schwierig herausstellt.
Doch wie Weeki Wachee bieten auch die Kurztrips die wahren "magical memories". Der Disneywelt mal entkommen, in die Natur, abschalten.
Der perfekte Ort dafür: Blue Spring State Park. Nach Feierabend und einem Zwischenstop bei Walmart ging es los zu unserem zweiten Mini-Roadtrip, mit der Hälfte der Roasted Potatoes. Nur eine gute Stunde nördlich von uns schlugen wir kurz darauf unsere Zelte auf. Mit halbgarem Stockbrot, den obligatorischen Red Solo Cups und vermutlich zu lauter Musik wurde die Nacht zum Tag gemacht. 20.000 Moskitos gefällt das, 300 haben die Veranstaltung geteilt.
Von den Biestern zerstochen, wurden wir dann viel zu früh von anderen Biestern geweckt. Schön hinter ihren Räubermasken versteckt machten sich Waschbären über alles her. Wenige Veggies und ein ganzes Knoblauchbrot als Vorspeise, ziemlich viel Meat als Hauptspeise und Marshmallows als Dessert. Dass Emsie versuchte, sie mit einem redundanten "Schuh!" zu verscheuchen, juckte die nachtaktive Gesellschaft herzlich wenig. Und ich möchte mir einbilden, dass derjenige, der in unserer Kühltruhe saß und den ich mit der Taschenlampe anleuchtete, mich mit seinen reflektierenden Augen nur verächtlich angesehen hat. Das Waschbären-Pendant zu einem Schulterzucken.
Schlafen war nach der Aktion also ohnehin unmöglich. Mit dem Plan, den Sonnenaufgang zu sehen, zogen wir los, um dann doch morgens um 6 am schwimmen zu gehen. Als die Einzigen am Pier, während noch Nebel über dem klaren Fluss lag, und nur Emsie's lautstarkes "In the Jungle" die Ruhe durchbrach :D
Leider haben wir noch etwas länger was von dem Trip, da wir durch poison ivy oder eine andere Giftpflanze gelaufen sind - unschön, weshalb ich heute meinen ersten early release anfordern musste. Wurde approved, aber nur unter Gemecker der Manager, dass ich besser sick callen sollte. Da wir dafür aber einen Punkt auf die record card bekommen, möchte ich das vermeiden.
Trotzdem ein unvergesslicher Trip!